The water went on forever. The train sped by flooded fields. Miles of water where crops used to be. The occasional clump of dead trees rose above the rippled surface. Thankfully the tracks had been built to withstand the massive influx of water from the rain. The rain. It was almost constant now. Letting up once in a while. We had to resort to food that could grow well in sopping wet conditions. Cattle? Chickens? Good luck. Most drowned. Some were saved but there wasn't any land for them to graze on. Chicken feed washed or floated away. But the train. The train was the only thing between the two towns. It squealed along, most parts rusting in one way or another. The wind whistled through too many holes to count. It's a wonder that more people didn't get tetanus. Our train. Our lifeline between the mountain peaks was at least able to keep our communities connected. Some tree harvester boats were off in the distance. Anything that floats was valuable now. Well, anything that floats and doesn't rust. The towns built outward by adding floating sections. We had given up making dikes and dams. This rain. It made pumping water out of spaces impossible. The only other way to reduce the crowding was to grow upward, but the train couldn't make it to anywhere that had enough building materials to grow upward. So towns got wider. And floating. The train. The water. The towns. The rain. The. Water. The train speaker crackled “the special today in the dining car is kelp soup.” ending with an abrupt click.

Cool. “I guess it's better than surprise seafood stew.” Kelsey said, echoing the sarcasm in my head. “Brian, why don't we just wait until we get home?” “Because we haven't eaten in almost 12 hours and the train still has 8 more. ” I said. “and we probably only have enough for 1 bowl.” shuffling the plastic bills in my hand. “Fine” She sighed.

“I'll be back, watch the bags and our precious cargo” nodding my head toward the iced down seafood.

You'd think there would be plenty of fish for both towns. I thought as I made my way toward the dining car. Shuffling past bags half in the aisle while navigating the protruding shoulders and the sway of the train. The fact is that with so much more water, the water bound creatures had so much more room to spread out. They were harder to find now. And even when we did they easily moved on to new and safer locations away from those pesky air breathers.

In the dining car the line wasn't too bad. “one soup special please.” I directed to the girl with mid length red hair at the counter. “For here or to go?” she asked, then chuckled, her eyes wrinkling and a small smirk turned into a smile as she turned “I'm kidding we just have these cups with lids.” motioning to the rack behind her. “could you imagine the mess if we just had open bowls?”

“A-uh right. Of course.” I smiled weakly and handed over the cash. Taking the change and the soup she handed me I headed back to Kelsey. The seafood we were taking to Fallender was worth more to us than the small amount for kelp soup. Plus, I was just tired of seafood.

It's like my brother in law can hear the fish. He knows where they will be. We would sail our precious cargo to Fallender, but there are too many shallow waters between Thaesion and Fallender. So my wife and I take this run down over-worked train.

The two people ahead of him shuffled forward.

“Grace's Laundry” was a mile down the road.

The last person in front of him stepped away after completing their order.

He ordered his drink and paused. “Anything else?” asked the cashier. He smiled to himself and said “Yes... a large matcha latte. “